Latching mechanism



March 21, 1961 F. w. GOLLBACH LATCHING MECHANISM Filed July 13, 1959INVENTOR.

FRED W. GOLLBACH (BMW 5 Qm ATTORNEYS nite rates LATCHING MECHANISM FiledJuly 13, 1959, Ser. No. 826,526

2 Claims. (Cl. 292-25) This invention relates to a latching mechanismand more particularly to a latching mechanism which is particularlysuited for latching together two movable members of the type shown inthe application filed by Padlo, Ser. No. 799,653 on March 16, 1959, nowPatent No. 2,957,539 dated October 25, 1960, wherein the two membersconsist of two sides of a folding ladder.

In many places it is desirable to latch a fixed member to a movablemember such as to latch together the two sides of a ladder of thefolding type as mentioned above, or to latch a door to a door frame,etc., and wherein the latching mechanism is positive working and may beeasily actuated under any one of a number of diiferent motions. Thus, incase of a panic or in case of the necessity of quickly operating thelatching mechanism, where the person operating it either does not knowhow to operate it properly or does not have time to read directions, itis desirable to have a latching mechanism which he can operate in anumber of dilterent ways and yet will still operate to unlatch.

'Il1us, it is an object of this invention to form a latching mechanismwhich is operated by a control which may be either twisted, like adoorknob, either clockwise or counter-clockwise or which may be pushedto release the latch.

Another object of this invention is to form a latching mechanism withtwo or more operators or controls widely spaced from one another andwherein each control may be separately operated either by twisting thecontrol clockwise or counter-clockwise or by pushing the control tooperate the latching mechanism.

Another object of this invention is to form such a latching mechanismwhich is operable in a number of difierent ways, but which is extremelyinexpensive to fabricate and install, which requires a minimum ofmaintenance, and which is formed of a minimum number of parts.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will becomeapparent upon reading the following description of which the attacheddrawings form a part.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an elevation view, partially in cross-section, showing thelatching mechanism installed between two members, one being movable andthe other being fixed.

Fig. 2 is a view taken in the direction of arrows 22 of Fig. 1.

This latching mechanism is designed to latch a fixed member to a movablemember and for purposes of illustration, the fixed member 11 and themovable member 12 are illustrated as being two elongated channelsarranged vertically, with the opposite flanges of each of the channelshaving meeting edges 13 and with the fixed channel 11 being secured to awall 14. These two channels may form the opposite sides of a toldableladder of the type mentioned above relative to the'application of Padloand whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference.

The wall 14 may be the exterior wall of a house or 2,976,070 PatentedMar. 21, 1961 a building having more than one floor wherein the channelsare fixed on the outside. of the building and form the sides of afoldable ladder. The rungs of the ladder are folded within the channelsso that when the movable channel is unlatched, the ladder rungs areunfolded and are available for use for someone to climb out of an upperstory window and climb down to the ground thereon. Here, it is desirableto provide a control means inside the building on each of the floors ofthe building which will operate to unlatch the movable member 12.

The means for latching the movable member to the fixed member consistsof a pair of hooks 20 and 2011, each pivotally mounted upon a pivot pin21 connected to the fixed member and each having a hook portion 22arranged to engage a pin 23 which is connected to the movable member.The hooks may pivot about their pivot pins 21 to either engage ordisengage from their respective pins 23. Each of the hooks are providedwith a stud 24 on their opposite ends and are arranged so that movementof the studs towards each other will pivot the hooks to disengage fromtheir pins 23.

The two studs 24 are interconnected by a flexible, elongated cord 25which may be formed of conventional rope made of plastic, or someorganic material, or of a metallic material, such as woven metal standsor of a chain. The cord is taut between the two studs and normallyextends in a straight line therebetween as shown in Figure l.

The opposite ends of the cord are each passed through a transverseopening 26 formed in each of the studs 24 and may be knotted at 27 attheir opposite ends to restrain them from moving out of the studs.

A pair of guide studs 28 are each secured to the fixed channel member 11and extend into the path of the cord between the two hooks and each areprovided with openings 29 through which the cord is freely passed. Ateach end of the cord, a coil spring 30 is arranged to surround the cordand be seated between the guide stud 2'8 and the hook studs 24 toresiliently bias the hooks into the latching position, shown in Figurel, where the hooks engage their pins 23.

To operate the latching hooks, a control means 35 is provided. Thiscontrol means includes a shaft 36 arranged transversely to the cord 25and mounted in the wall .14 and on the fixed member 11. This mountingmeans consists of a U-shaped channel 37 having a base 38 arrangedagainst the base of the channel 11 and having a threaded central opening39 in the base 38. A sleeve 40 passes through the wall- 14 and has anend threadedly engaged with a'threaded opening 39 of the U-shaped member37. A nut 41 threadedly engages the opposite end of the sleeve and thuslocks the sleeve in place in the wall.

The shaft slidably fits within the sleeve 4%) and also may rotate eitherclockwise or counter-clockwise within the sleeve. At the innerend of theshaft, a transverse opening 44 is drilled and the cord 25 freely passesthrough this transverse opening. The opposite end of the shaft isexposed and is provided with a handle 45. Also, a pair of rotatableguide rollers 46 are arranged across the two flanges of the channel 37to contact the cord 25 and thus form guides to guide the cord betweenthe base 38 and the two rollers.

As shown in Fig. 1, two sets of control means are provided, each beingidentical. One set could be located on one floor of a building, and theother set of controls 35 could'be locatedon a different floor of thebuilding so that the controls maybe operated independently of. eachother from two different floors of the building; to.

unlatch the hooks. 20 arid 200. At times, one control In operation, thecord 25 is stretched tautly between the two studs 24 and the hooks 20and 20a, being spring biased, engage theirpins '23.

At this point, a person may grasp one of the handles 45 and twistthehandle either'clockwise or counterclockwise to thus twist the cord25. Thus by shortening the cord a pull is provided on it to pull theends of the hooks upon Which the studs 24are mounted andthereby releasethe hooks from their pins'23. Alternatively, the handle 45 may be pushedso as to move the shaft axially and thereby displace the cord fromits-straight line position. This, likewise, will provide a'pull upon thecord to operate the hooks as above mentioned. In either case, while oneof the sheets is being rotated or pushed, the other shaft functions as ajournal bearing to maintain the cord in its proper guided position andprevent it from becoming tangled or disengaged from its properalignment. Thus, one shaft serves as the operator and the other shaftserves as a guide means or journal.

At times, only one hook may be needed, such as when the movable andfixed members are short in length. Hence, one end of the cord may besecured to a fixed anchor with the opposite end of the cord beingsecured to the rotatable hook. For example, the lower stud 28 could bethe fixed anchor to which the cord is fastened. Likewise, the lower endof the cord could simply be knotted beneath the lower shaft 36 so thatthe lower shaft 36 forms the anchor where only one latching hook isused.

This invention may be further developed within the scope of thefollowing attachedclaims. Accordingly, it is desired that the foregoingdescription be read as being merely illustrative of an operativeembodiment of this invention and not in a strictly limiting sense.

I now claim:

l. A latching mechanism for latching a fixed member to a movable member,comprising a journal formed in and extending through one of the membersand a shaft fitted in said journal and extending beyond both ends of thejournal, one end of the shaft being exposed for manually grasping theshaft, said shaft being axially slidable in the journal and also beingrotatable in both a counterclockwise and a clockwise direction about itsaxis, the opposite end of the shaft being provided with an openingextending transversely through the shaft, alatching hookmeans pivotallysecured to said one member and arranged to engage a pin means secured onthe other member, an elongated, flexible cord having an end secured tothe hook means so that a pull on the cord causes the hook means to pivotand thereby disconnect from the pinmeans, the cord loosely passingthrough said shaft opening and having its opposite end secured to thesame one member, with the cord being taut at all times, whereby rotationof the shaft either clockwise or counterclockwise or axial movement ofthe shaft all will provide a pull on the cord to thus pivot the latchinghook means.

2. A latching mechanism for latching a movable member to the outsidesurface of a wall of a building and being operable from within thebuilding, comprising a pair of Widely spaced openings formedtransversely through said wall, a journal extending through and securedwithin each of said openings, each of the journals having a shaftjournalled through it, the shafts cuch having an outside end extendingbeyond the outside surface of the wall and an inside end extending adistance beyond the inside surface of the wall and being exposed formanually grasping the inside ends, the shafts each being axiallyslidable within their journals and also being rotatable both clockwiseandcounterclockwise within their journals, a pair of latching hook meanssecured to the outside surface of the wall and arranged to engage pinmeans secured to the movable member; an elongated, flexible cord havingone end secured to one of the hook means and its opposite end secured tothe other hook means so that a pull on the cord operates both hook meansto simultaneousiy disengage them from their respective pin means; eachof the outside ends of the shafts being provided with an openingextending transversely through that shaft, and the cord loosely passingthrough both of said shaft openings, the cord being taut at all times,whereby manual rotation of the inside ends of either of the shafts,either clockwise or counterclockwise, or a manual axial movement on theinside ends of either of the shafts all will provide a pull on the cordto thus operate the latching hook means, and with the shaft opening ofone of the shafts acting as a guide journal for the cord when the othershaft is operated to apply a pull to the cord.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS197,115 Frees Nov. 13, 1877 365,281 Thorud June 21, 1877 540,911 GeorgeJune 11, 1395 550,719 Hudson Dec. 3, 1895 1,613,023 Diete Jan. 4, 19272,191,437 Bode -2 Feb. 27, 1940 2,541,352 Ginter Feb. 13, 195i FOREIGNPATENTS 374,583 France Apr. 22, 1907

